ZAGREB, May 7 (Hina) - Croatia will not be officially invited to join NATO at the summit in Istanbul in June, NATO Deputy Secretary General John Colston said in Zagreb on Friday.
ZAGREB, May 7 (Hina) - Croatia will not be officially invited to join
NATO at the summit in Istanbul in June, NATO Deputy Secretary General
John Colston said in Zagreb on Friday.#L#
The summit in Istanbul will not be an opportunity to invite Croatia to
join NATO, Colston said after talks with Croatian Defence Minister
Berislav Roncevic.
Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has said on several occasions that the
Croatian government expected from the Istanbul summit more than just
an "open-door policy" and expressed hope Croatia would join the
Alliance in 2006.
Colston explained that NATO leaders had not made a decision on the new
enlargement round, after seven former Communist countries joined it in
late March.
He said NATO would support Croatia's aspirations to become a NATO
member country and encourage it to continue implementing reforms.
Colston, who is on a two-day visit to Zagreb, met Roncevic to discuss
reforms in the Croatian Armed Forces and the country's adjustment to
NATO standards.
The NATO official said his impression of political and practical
reforms in Croatia were good, which was confirmed by the positive avis
of the European Commission on Croatia's EU membership application.
The Croatian Minister said there was a lot more to be done and added
thaz the visits of NATO senior officials showed that Croatia-NATO
relations were strengthening.
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